By Tye Graham and Peter W. Singer The Ukraine conflict is more than a distant spectacle to China’s People’s Liberation Army; it offers a real-time battlefield laboratory to study for its own strategic needs. From drone swarms to electronic warfare, its lessons are being methodically analyzed and … [Read more...]
It won’t come cheap: What is the true cost of defending Australia?
By: Stephen Kuper Nobody has ever said that defending Australia will come cheap. Following a big year for defence budgeting and the national accounts in particular, this has come to the fore, but with the next-half of this decade set to be more challenging, what is the true cost for defending the … [Read more...]
L’adhésion de la Roumanie au Schengen routier : une aubaine pour l’industrie du transport
by Fabien Bévis Un potentiel économique majeur pour la Roumanie Depuis 1989, la Roumanie importe plus qu’elle n’exporte. Cependant, le secteur des transports routiers se distingue comme le premier contributeur à l’export de services, avec un chiffre d’affaires de 7,82 milliards d’euros en 2023. … [Read more...]
China is training super-pilots with qigong for stealth jet and drone battle
Stephen Chen in Beijing In a secluded hot spring pool in the coastal town of Xingcheng in northeast China, a group of 50 robust men move their bodies in unison, practising a form of qigong known as baduanjin while a melody drifts through the mist. Aged between 23 and 48, the men are China’s top … [Read more...]
Lai’s letter to Trump a great start: Ex-U.S. national security advisor
Washington, Dec. 12 (CNA) A former United States national security advisor on Thursday confirmed delivering President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) congratulatory letter to Donald Trump, calling it a "great start" for relations between the two sides. Robert O'Brien, who served as Trump's national security … [Read more...]
The Syrian Government Has Fallen. Now What?
By Kamran Bokhari The Assad regime, which had ruled Syria for nearly half a century, fell over the weekend after rebels took control the capitol of Damascus. Former President Bashar Assad fled the country and was granted asylum in Moscow. He leaves in his place a strategic vacuum that, when filled, … [Read more...]
Lebanon ceasefire deal: displaced communities start to return home
"Immediately after the ceasefire came into force at 4am, residents of south Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa (valley) began their return after months of forced displacement,” said the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. “Heavy traffic [was] observed on the highway from Beirut to the south … [Read more...]
Half of Ukrainians Want Quick, Negotiated End to War
Benedict Vigers This article is the first in a series based on Gallup’s latest surveys in Ukraine. In 2023 and 2024, some occupied territories with entrenched Russian control were excluded because of lack of coverage by Ukrainian mobile operators. The exclusion represents approximately 10% to 12% … [Read more...]
The perils of predicting the future
Suzanne Raine Thinking about the future as a mystery to be divined, rather than an outcome to be shaped, has become hard-wired into the way we talk about what will happen next in foreign policy. When nearly 150 million US voters cast their ballots on 5 November, opinion polls … [Read more...]
Australia announces rapid munitions, missile manufacturing with Thales, Lockheed Martin
Robert Dougherty The federal government has announced plans for the rapid establishment of domestic manufacturing for missiles, munitions – including producing up to 100,000 artillery ammunition rounds a year by the end of the decade. The federal government, on 30 October, announced French … [Read more...]